This has been and will always be my dream kit! The options and variants would be a boon to the cottage industry folks. Yeah, 1/72 scale is kinda big, but I've already chosen a spot on our bedroom wall currently occupied by my wife's Alexander doll collection. I would prefer an Electric Boat Gato since, with a few changes, like a new sail, can easily morph into a later Balao. Keep up the pressure on Revell! :)

You didn't mention where your wife's doll collection is going.... This could get....tactical.

I would prefer an Electric Boat Gato since, with a few changes, like a new sail, can easily morph into a later Balao.

I'm a bit mystified by that statement, as Balao's were built to both EB & Government plans. In fact the USS Balao was a Portsmouth-built boat, and did not use the EB limber hole or anchor patterns. As an example, if you wanted to build Becuna, then it's an EB Balao design, but Tang on the other hand would be a Gov't design out of Mare Island, with the distinct limber hole & anchor placement. Having an EB Gato doesn't necessarily help you in building the later Balao class; it depends on the specific boat you model.

Word is that Revell may use USS Cobia in a mid-war Gato configuration as the template, so that would be an EB design.

I was just up on the Revell Germany site. The kit has 10-06 for release date. The Nuremberg toy fair starts tomorrow and they have a live web-cam. I saw in one view a large box with a Gato on the cover. Cool! BD.

Tom. I'm sorry. I should have added "Balao Class" instead of just "Balao." I'm kinda partial to the EB boat's looks and their limber pattern. I also hate drilling holes and have nightmares of a blownup version of the Lionfish. Infact, looking at the cover art posted today, I've got a creepy feeling we're looking at a "USS Generic Fleetboat". Can anyone read those numbers on the sail?

In fact, looking at the cover art posted today, I've got a creepy feeling we're looking at a "USS Generic Fleetboat". Can anyone read those numbers on the sail?

I've seen this very cover art from Revell in the past; it was used when the Lionfish & the Revell Missouri were packaged together as a "two for one" kit box (never mind that there were vast difference in scales). If you look closely, you can make out the battleship in the background. We've been assured that Revell is not scaling up Lionfish, but is using a mid-war Gato museum boat as a template (the EB built USS Cobia [not Cod; thanks, Mike!]) & the FD planbook for an entirely new molding. So, be optimistic!

How long after release of this kit do you expect "photo-etched" detail parts?

Are you speaking about a photoetched deck?? Radar antennas?? Gun sights & training wheels?? I don't think you would want to do the railings in photoetch; much too flat at this scale. The challenge at 1/72 scale is that the model is so big (52 inches long), you really do have to superdetail it to make it look decent.

There will also be two Trumpeter Gato submarine kits (early & mid-war) released this year, in 1/144 scale (which makes them half the size of the 1/72 kit; or about 26 inches long).